Shane 'Shakey' Byrne celebrated a double dose of victories in
the opening round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike
Championship Showdown at Donington Park. The four-time champion
fought intensely with his closest rival Leon Haslam, who finished
second in race one but crashed out of contention whilst battling to
settle the score in race two

In the opening Showdown race Byrne claimed a storming victory to
move back to the top of the standings by just two points from arch
rival Haslam who finished second.

At the start of race one Title Fighter James Ellison had taken
the initial advantage from his team-mate Haslam, Byrne and
Christian Iddon. Byrne was instantly on the attack though and moved
into second with a move at the Hairpin on the second lap.

The Be Wiser Ducati rider then waited a lap later to make a pass
on Haslam with a dive down the inside at the Esses to hit the front
of the pack. It was on the same lap that Title Fighter Luke Mossey
run straight on into the Esses before retiring to the pitlane with
a brake issue.

Byrne and Haslam then pushed on at the front, with Byrne
gradually edging a gap on his main title rival to win the race. The
battle for third went down to the final laps and Honda Racing's
Jason O'Halloran was pushing to move back into the top three. The
Australian waited until there were just three laps to go before
pulling off a move into the Esses and then fending off the JG
Speedfit Kawasaki rider.

Peter Hickman was able to fight off Richard Cooper and Dan
Linfoot in an intense battle for fifth place with Iddon holding
eighth after dropping back down the order with an off track moment
at Goddards earlier in the race. John Hopkins and Michael Laverty
completed the top ten.

In race two Haslam looked to have the edge off the line as the
pack steamed into the Craner Curves for the first time, but Ellison
forced his way through with a determined move to take the lead.

O'Halloran was denied the chance to try and make his race one
podium a repeat performance when he crashed out at the old Hairpin
when the pack concentinered up. The Australian was left clearly
frustrated as he now drops to fifth place in the Showdown standings
ahead of Assen.

At the front Ellison was holding off Haslam and Byrne, but the
JG Speedfit Kawasaki team-mates were soon to swap positions when
the 'Pocket Rocket' moved ahead on the seventh lap. Ellison was
then under fire from Byrne, who a lap later forced his way ahead as
he focused on Haslam ahead of him.

Haslam and Byrne were then scrapping at the front, but as the
pair dived for the Melbourne Loop, Ellison pulled one of the most
spectacular moves of the season to ride around the outside of the
duelling pair.

Ellison led over the line but Haslam then moved back ahead in
one of the most intense races of the season so far between the
leading trio. Ellison was dropping down the order as he began to
lose grip and Linfoot took the advantage to move into third.

Haslam and Byrne were dicing at the front but then disaster
struck the former championship leader when he crashed out at
Redgate; frustrated the local hero was forced to watch the
remainder of the race from the sidelines and subsequently fall 27
points behind double winner Byrne with still five races of the
Showdown remaining.

Haslam's crash then promoted Tyco BMW's Iddon to third behind
Linfoot as he returned to the podium for the first time since the
second round.

The battle for fourth went to JG Speedfit Kawasaki with Peter
Hickman leading Richard Cooper and Tommy Bridewell, who had a
full-blow battle to the finish after Ellison dropped down the order
to seventh. Luke Mossey, Billy McConnell and Glenn Irwin completed
the top ten.

Byrne leads the Title Fighters to Assen as the championship
standings were completely shaken up in Leicestershire. The Be Wiser
Ducati rider has a 27 point advantage over Haslam, but Linfoot is
now just 26 points adrift of second place with Ellison hot on his
heels ahead of O'Halloran. Mossey ended a tough weekend with a
single eighth place to hold sixth in the standings.